A corporate update from Target Corp. issued on Friday addressed the investigation of the data breach that exposed information about as many as 70 million of its customers in the U.S.

But while its new Canadian operations were not affected — short of any collateral damage to its reputation in regard to privacy issues — the retailer still found a reason to blame the country for something, anyhow.

The announcement also included a preview of Target’s forthcoming fourth-quarter financial results — which will reflect the impact of the Dec. 19 data breach.

Naturally, the news weakened store sales at the tail end of 2013, which have reportedly shown improvement in the first week of the new year.

Yet enthusiasm for the Canadian expansion plan, which stumbled through its first few months despite high advance expectations, did not seem to fare much better than before during the holiday season.

Lower earnings were driven in part “by the gross margin impact of continued efforts to clear excess inventory” at the 124 locations that opened in Canada throughout 2013.

A fuller picture on the state of the stores is certain to be revealed when the full quarterly results are reported in late February.

Target Canada most recently touted the success of its first annual Boxing Day sale — presumably, a sign that a more aggressive discounting strategy is on the horizon for the year ahead, as the loudest customer complaints have focused on the higher prices than found in locations south of the border.